


A Refuge for Quiet Hearts

by reflega



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Post-Re:Mind, Re:Mind Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-25
Updated: 2020-01-25
Packaged: 2021-02-27 10:21:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,297
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22405633
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/reflega/pseuds/reflega
Summary: After the events of Re:Mind, Riku struggles to keep a brave face after a year without Sora or Kairi. Naminé understands loneliness better than most, and understands Riku better than almost anyone.
Relationships: Naminé/Riku (Kingdom Hearts)
Comments: 10
Kudos: 97





	A Refuge for Quiet Hearts

It’s been a year.

A year since Kairi volunteered- no, _insisted_ \- they put her to sleep to search her heart for clues. A little more than a year since Sora... well.

Riku’s been alone for a while.

Not entirely, not on the outside- he paid a visit to the Land of Departure, to see Aqua, Terra, and Ven off. He’s met up with King Mickey, Donald, and Goofy a few times to hear progress reports. He stops in frequently with the restoration committee at Merlin’s.

But Aqua, Terra, and Ventus are together. Roxas, Xion, and Axel (Isa too, occasionally) are rarely apart. Riku can’t help the aching in his heart, the tender spots where Kairi and Sora are missing. He ignores the ache as best he can, and he’s cultivated a talent for ignoring the parts of him that hurt.

It’s a beautiful evening in Radiant Garden, because it’s _always_ beautiful in Radiant Garden no matter the time of day, and the air is warm and slightly humid with the weight of summer. Worlds run on different times, but he’s discovered that Radiant Garden and Destiny Islands run pretty close to each other.

He’s a familiar face in this world these days, enough so that citizens he’s never met will greet him by name as they pass sometimes. He tries to take it gracefully, though in truth Riku’s never been comfortable with strangers. But he has an image to uphold now.

He seeks refuge from the creeping social anxiety in the quiet of one of the fountain squares that attracts less people. The sound of the water’s spray is close enough to the sound of waves to bring the comfort of familiarity, but different enough not to make him long for home.

“Hello, Riku,” says a soft voice from behind him, and he freezes at the thought of someone else he has to talk to, to pretend to be a confident leader to. But he knows the voice, actually, and relaxes again.

“Hey, Naminé.”

“Looking for somewhere to collect your thoughts?”

“Wish I could. My mind’s scattered all over the place lately,” he admits. It’s always been so easy to talk to her, like Kairi but without that teasing tone. She says nothing to that, because nothing needs to be said, and they stay in silence for a while.

Naminé is the first to break it. “How are you... doing, Riku?”

Ah. Time to deftly avoid talking about anything related to _this_.

“I’m fine,” he shrugs. “What about you? Everything going okay here?”

“Yes. Kairi is fine, though they haven’t made much progress searching her heart. I’m looking after her,” she dutifully assures him.

“Oh... no, I meant- uh, is everything going okay for... you? Is it weird staying in the castle?”

“Oh!” 

Old habits die hard, and Naminé still has a hard time assuming people are asking about _her_ , concerned for _her_ , interested in _her_.

“Yes, I’m fine! It’s not strange living in the castle, actually.” Her voice drifts a bit. “I thought I wouldn’t like it, to be honest... not after... Castle Oblivion.

But... it’s not like that at all. And everyone has been so welcoming to me.” Riku can hear the warm smile in her voice when she says it.

“Good,” he says with a little more emphasis than intended. “I know he’s trying to change, but if DiZ- I mean, Ansem the Wise, gives you any trouble, tell me.”

He never would, Riku and Naminé both know this, but it’s the principle of the thing. Riku still feels guilt about how he stood by and let DiZ treat her the way he did, all those years ago.

“Riku,” she says, and waits for him to give her his full attention. He looks at her with a question in his eyebrows, and she continues.

“You didn’t answer my question.”

“Huh?”

“How are you doing? Really?”

He makes a startled noise, like he’s just been caught in a lie. Which is silly, because Riku never ever lies about being fine. “I told you, I’m fine.” Before he can think of something to take the subject off himself, she follows-up.

“But that’s not the real answer, is it?”

This is the part where Riku spouts practiced denial, insists that he’s fine, he’s good, he’s just marching on and leading the search for Sora and being totally fine!!

...If it were anyone else, he’d say that. Maybe not Kairi, or Sora, but if they were here maybe he’d be closer to fine. Naminé has always had a way about her that makes him feel like he doesn’t need to lie about being okay. Because she’ll understand. Because she’s known hurt, and trauma, and the dark kind of sadness that not everyone has experienced.

“...I’m...” he starts, pauses to find the rest of that thought, then continues. “I’m... not alright. Just trying to be.”

“It’s okay to hurt, Riku. You’ve been alone for a long time now, and you miss them. I know.”

She knows, because she saw him like that for a whole year, when they first met, in that decrepit old place DiZ called a mansion. She saw him drowning in his demons and sadness and how being without Sora and Kairi did a number on him.

He’s grown so much since then, but sometimes it’s still not enough.

“Sorry. I shouldn’t be dragging you down like this,” he says, covering half his face with a hand to hide how warm his cheeks feel. Talking about feelings is _mortifying_.

“You’re not,” she says gently, but states it like a fact. “Here-“

She offers him a hand, and without hesitation he takes it.

“Leon’s been teaching me,” she says, then laces her fingers with his, lifts their hands up, and carefully steps into the beginning of a waltz.

Riku thinks it’s a waltz, anyway. He’s never had to differentiate dance steps before.

Naminé leads him in a slow, steady half-circle around the square, and though Riku doesn’t actually know _how_ to waltz, it’s easy enough to fall into step with her. It’s a bit like fighting, he thinks, the give and take of movement, watching the other person and moving accordingly. In the very back of his mind he thinks he could probably be good at this if he tried learning for real.

After a while, they’re laughing and making grand exaggerated gestures unlikely to be seen in a proper ballroom. Riku has to duck under the spray of a fountain at one point to avoid getting soaked, but he manages. 

Naminé spins into him and stays there, soaking up the moment. From the time she was born she never thought she would be here, like this, heart beating fast from laughter and exhilaration. Certainly not with someone she could call a friend- a real, actual, genuine friend. As she ponders this, she reaches up with her free hand and gently runs her fingers through his hair. He doesn’t freeze up, or pull away, just smiles warm and soft down at her. Then he carefully reaches for her cheek and brushes away some stray hair, lingering just a little.

Neither Riku or Naminé move first- it’s an entirely mutual thing when they both decide to press just a little closer, and kiss. It’s light, hesitant, soft. When they pull away, it’s to look at each other with the same expression. _Is this... okay? Are we okay like this?_

Riku moves first this time. He lightly presses his forehead to hers and closes his eyes. She lets out a breath she didn’t realize she had held until then and closes her eyes too.

It’s a beautiful evening in Radiant Garden, and Riku and Naminé stay like that until the fountain lights come on and the fireflies come out.

**Author's Note:**

> hi i’m rams and i finished re:mind and immediately wrote this entire thing in one go, whoops. it’s the first namiku fic i’ve written? somehow? anyway thanks for reading, i love these two a whole lot.


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